A 21-Year-Old Self-Made Millionaire Throws the Parties That You Go To: An Interview with Kazi Sorrentino

A 21-Year-Old Self-Made Millionaire Throws the Parties That You Go To: An Interview with Kazi Sorrentino

Born into a traditional family where his mother was a teacher and his father was a taxi driver, Kazi Sorrentino defied the anti-partying rules set against him and went from a local club promoter to a millionaire entrepreneur over the course of just 3 years. With a knack for drawing crowds and knowing how to market events, Kazi immersed himself in the New York City club scene at the tender age of 17. While attending Pace University and working at Chase Bank he accumulated a savings of about $3000 and decided to risk it all to invest in one party. After more than doubling that amount from a single event, he decided that he wasn’t going to stop. As the parties started drawing larger numbers and exposure, his first company, Vanity Tour, was established. One of his parties was so successful, he got sued for $63 for overcrowding! By the age of 20, he caught the attention of Mehedi Hasan of Omicon Group and thus begun the birth of Omicon Entertainment. With such parties as Electric Flurry, I’m Shmacked 3D, and A$AP Ferg and YG’s album release party under his belt, I can guarantee this is only the beginning. His upcoming parties include Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and I’m Shmacked: NYC Freak Show 3D <<–SNAG TICKETS WITH THESE LINKS and check out what he has to say in this exclusive interview:

DB: When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I have had a couple of crazy career choices growing up. When I was 8 years old, I wanted to be a WWE wrestler. When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be in the NBA as a professional basketball player. Entering college, I wanted to be an accountant.

DB: When you first started partying, you mentioned bringing a lot of people out with you. Were these all friends? How did you manage to round up so many that it turned into a promoting gig?

I always brought a good number of friends out – obviously more of my close friends when I first started. However, the main reason that I was able to bring a lot of people out to events was because I went to Pace University – with a very diverse student body. Being a NYC native, most kids from out of state did not know where to go in terms of nightlife events. So naturally, most of them would just follow where I went. I eventually got the rep of the “party guy”. I began my career promoting for Kyle Kingzly.

DB: How did you get involved in Omicon Entertainment?

When I first started my business at 18 years old, I did my events under the company “Vanity Tour.” However, it wasn’t until more recently when I was found by my investor – Engr. Mehedi Md. Hasan, that I became involved with Omicon Entertainment. He acquired Vanity Tour under his international conglomerate corporation – and taught me how to start Omicon Entertainment and run it as the CEO.

DB: What’s the best party you have ever thrown?

The best party I have ever thrown has to be my 21st birthday. It was a 3D I’m Shmacked party at Stage 48, there was well over 4,000 people trying to enter the event. This led to a presence of 10 police cars, 2 helicopters and the whole block being shut down.

DB: What the craziest thing to happen at one of your events?

The craziest thing to happen at my events must have been on 8/20/2013 when I hosted ASAP Ferg’s Album Release party. ASAP Rocky came along with MTV and they recorded the whole event. I was only 19 years old at the time and after 1 year of doing events, I had my party on one of the largest television channels in the world.

DB: What about expanding beyond New York City?

Expanding out of New York City has been a goal but I wanted to figure out the perfect way to do it. We are currently developing a nightlife app for New York City to revolutionize how patrons of nightlife go out, fixing all the flaws and filling the huge gap in the market for it. Once we launch the app successfully in New York, our goal is to expand to other party hot spots like Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

DB: Ever think about throwing the ultimate party: a festival?

Yes I have. But as with all of my ventures, I want to enter at the right time and do it the right way. I want my event to differ from EDC, EZOO, Governor’s Ball and other festivals – and be something very new and fresh to the scene. When I feel the timing is appropriate, I hope to throw a festival.

DB: In terms of music genres, which ones do you enjoy the most?

I have no genre of choice. I like good music in whatever genre it comes. I can listen to anything from Kanye West to the Beetles to Tim Mcgraw to Miley Cyrus.

DB: What are your parents’ thoughts on your success?

They love that I am successful and happy. But obviously, like most parents, they wanted their kids to grow up and become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Never in their wildest dream did they envision me becoming a party mogul. However, I am helping them financially and helping them with whatever they need.

DB: At the point in your career before you graduated college, you had to think earning a degree was kind of pointless, right?

The sole reason and the only reason, I finished college was because my mom asked me to. There is a huge flaw in the education system in America. Kids come out of college with 200,000 dollars in debt that doesn’t even guarantee them a job. Then they spend the next 15 years paying off their student loans. Most of my friends who have made millions of dollars in their ventures never went to college or dropped out of it.

DB: What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

My main advice to Entrepreneurs is to focus on something you love doing. Once you love what you are doing, you won’t spend a single hour of your life working. Once your business is almost as important to you as eating or breathing, that is when you will grow your business and money will seamlessly roll in. Never in my wildest dream did I think that at 21, I would have hit over a million dollars in sales and have 15 people working for me.

DB: What’s your favorite venue to party at and favorite venue to throw parties at in NYC?

My favorite venues to party in New York City have to be VIP Room, Highline Ballroom, Riff Raff’s and Motivo. But I am a true believer that a party is more based on the people who promote them and the crowd they bring in. The two main companies I work with that organize the best events in NYC are Rassman Inc and AIM Hospitality.

My favorite venue to throw parties at in NYC is Amazura in Jamaica, Queens. Reasons being that it is such a huge and raw space that I can create whatever experience I envision. Among the events I’ve hosted thee in the past, I have made that club into a Gatsby Mansion, a Black Light party, a foam party, a haunted house and my next event there will be I’m Shmacked on April 18.

Ashlyn Fulton

Director, Publicity

Ashlyn is a Nap Girl from Southern California that relocated to New York City in 2010. She began frequenting shows around the city not long after and started writing for Daily Beat just after New Years 2013, when she realized undoubtedly that working in dance music was her passion.

Daily Beat was launched in 2012 in a social media capacity to serve local artists under a boutique record label. Since its launch, Daily Beat has expanded into a leading global youth media company with representatives in over 20 countries.